Miss Universe dress inspired by icon

Miss Universe dress inspired by icon - The West Australian

Australia's Miss Universe entrant Renae Ayris will wear a white and gold dress inspired by the Sydney Opera House on the international beauty stage next month.

The dress, voted for by the public and announced on Channel Seven's Sunrise show this morning, was one of four finalists for the national costume.

Ayris will wear the dress in front of about a million people at the Miss Universe competition in Las Vegas next month.

The short dress features gold panels and is teamed with gold, starry straps up to knee and a white and gold head dress.

The dress's designer Jessica Bregenhoj said the dress was inspired by the sails of the Sydney Opera House with gold panels representing "everything golden and lucky" about Australia.

She said she was thrilled to have her dress chosen by thousands of voters.

"It's not a dream I thought possible or even imagined until the competition came around and then it was all I could think about," she said.

The national costume has been known for creating controversy in the past and often attracts a mixed response from fashion critics.

Ayris, who wore the dress for the first time in front of the designer today, said she "loved" the outfit.

"I think its really a costume and people don't really understand that you have to have a costume for the national costume so they kind of think 'oh its a little bit out there' but it needs to be to stand up to the other countries," she said.

Other dresses which made the shortlist included a dress inspired by Australia's native flora, a colourful dress inspired by the Great Barrier Reef and a dress representing WA’s bird emblem the black swan.

Thewest.com.au readers voted a long white dress inspired by Australia's native flora as their favourite dress. The dress attracted 75 per cent of votes while the winning dress received seven per cent of the votes.